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Still from video of Jan 19, 2012 long duration solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) which is expect to reach Earth on Jan 21, 2012. Credit: NASA/SDO › Link to associated news item
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Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/011912-flare.html
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Still from video: Comet Lovejoy is seen here exiting from behind the right side of the sun, after an hour of travel through its closest approach to the sun. By tracking how the comet interacts with the sun's atmosphere, the corona, and how material from the tail moves along the sun's magnetic field lines, solar scientists hope to learn more about the corona. The movie was filmed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in 171 Angstrom wavelength, which is typically shown in yellow. Credit:...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/lovejoy-survives-sdo.html
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This image from the Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) taken the morning of Dec. 16, 2011 shows the comet head emerging from the right side of the sun. The comet does seem to have left its tail behind, however –that's the nearly vertical streak that remains on the left side of the sun. The comet's survival surprised NASA scientists. Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/lovejoy-soho-121611.html
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Still from video: Comet Lovejoy blazes toward the sun and its tail wiggles as it interacts with the solar wind as seen by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which adjusted its cameras in order to watch the trajectory. Not only does this help with comet research—such as how big the comet is and what it's made of -- but it may also help orient instruments on SDO. Since the scientists know where the comet is based on other spacecraft, they can finely determine the position of SDO's mirrors....
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/lovejoy-sdo-approach.html
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Still from video: Comet Lovejoy blazes toward the sun and its tail wiggles as it interacts with the solar wind. By the end of the day on December 15, 2011, the comet will graze some some 75,000 miles above the sun's surface through the several million degree solar corona, and quite likely evaporate. The movie was recorded by STEREO using the Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation (SECCHI) instrument. Credit: NASA/STEREO/NRL › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/lovejoy-stereo-approach.html
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In early December, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) online "Pick of the Week" reached an impressive milestone: its 500th edition. This is an incredibly popular feature, which highlights one video or image of the sun each week. Featured here are solar images taken from November 22-28, 2011. The Sun produced about a dozen coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in eight days and it did seem like it was working overtime. The SOHO C2 coronagraph shows the storms (both large and...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/soho/soho-potw-500.html
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ISS030-E-014379 (21 Dec. 2011) --- Comet Lovejoy is visible near Earth’s horizon in this nighttime image photographed by NASA astronaut Dan Burbank, Expedition 30 commander, onboard the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2011.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/iss030e014379.html
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At approximately the same time as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launch on November 26, 2011, shown here on the right, a solar explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth and the Red Planet, as seen in the image on the left captured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Credit: SOHO
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/cme-msl-launch.html
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At approximately the same time as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) launch on November 26, 2011, a solar explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth and the Red Planet, as seen in this image captured by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. Credit: SOHO › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20111126-cme.html
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A cut-away illustration of Earth's interior. At the heart of our planet lies a solid iron ball, about as hot as the surface of the sun. Researchers call it "the inner core", which is 70% as wide as the moon. It spins at its own rate, as much as 0.2o of longitude per year faster than the Earth layers above it. Surrounding the iron ball is an ocean of liquid iron known as "the outer core." This inner and outer core duo is referred to as Earth's geodynamo. Surrounding the core...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/earths-dynamiccore.html
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Schematic illustration of the invisible magnetic field lines generated by the Earth, represented as a dipole magnet field. In actuality, our magnetic shield is squeezed in closer to Earth on the Sun-facing side and extremely elongated on the night-side due to the solar wind. Earth's polarity is not a constant. Unlike a classic bar magnet, the matter governing Earth's magnetic field moves around. Geophysicists are pretty sure that the reason Earth has a magnetic field is because its solid iron...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/Earths-magneticfieldlines-dipole.html
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The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captured this image of the X1.9 class solar flare from November 3, 2011. Credit: NASA/SDO › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20111103-x1.9.html
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The sun let loose with at least six coronal mass ejections (CMEs) -- solar phenomena that can send solar particles into space and affect electronic systems in satellites -- from 7 PM ET on September 18, 2011 until 1 PM on September 19. The ejections appear to come from points scattered over the surface of the sun. Two CME's dissipated quickly, but four continue to spread outward from the sun. NASA models suggest that the leading edge of one CME will pass by Earth at around 5 PM ET on Sep 21, at...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110920-6cmes.html
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An X1.4 class flare erupted from the sun, peaking at 7:01 AM ET on September 22. The flare came from sunspot N15E88, which is just moving into view as the sun rotates. This flare has caused elevated proton levels on the East (left) side of the sun. Associated with this flare, there was a significant CME that began around 7:24 AM ET. The image taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, is shown in multiple wavelengths of light simultaneously (211, 193, 171 angstrom). The different wavelength...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110922-x1.4flare.html
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An x-class flare began at 3:48 AM EDT on August 9, 2011 and peaked at 4:05 AM. The flare burst from sun spot region AR11263, before it rotated out of view. The image here was captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light at 131 Angstroms. This image is from the beginning of the event just before the satellite sensors were overwhelmed by energetic particles. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110809-x7Flare.html
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A widespread display of auroras erupted late Friday and into Saturday, August 5 and 6, when the August 3, 2011 double-CME hit Earth's magnetic field and sparked a G4-category geomagnetic storm. Auroras were visible in the continental U.S. in Utah, Nebraska and Colorado and in Europe as far south as England, Germany and Poland. This image was taken by Scott Lowther in Thatcher, Utah on August 6, 2011. "The auroras were just barely visible to the naked eye here in Utah as a pink glowing dome...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/dbl-punch-aurora.html
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An active region, observed in extreme ultraviolet light (193 angstrom) by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, burst out with a short-lived M9.3 flare. The flare originated from active region 1261 and began at about 10:02 p.m. EDT and ended around 10:12 p.m. EDT on July 29, 2011. Because the location of the eruption and its sunspot at that time, the associated high-energy particles went wide of Earth and had little terrestrial effects. The region that unleashed the flare has now rotated to be...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/news072911-m9flare.html
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July 21, 2011: Space shuttle Atlantis landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up the final mission of NASA's space shuttle program. At 08:27:48 UT, just 21 minutes before the deorbit burn, astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured what might be the last picture of Atlantis in space--and it was a solar transit. › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110721-atlantis-transit-zoom.html
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July 21, 2011: Space shuttle Atlantis landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, wrapping up the final mission of NASA's space shuttle program. At 08:27:48 UT, just 21 minutes before the deorbit burn, astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured what might be the last picture of Atlantis in space--and it was a solar transit. › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110721-atlantis-transit.html
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SOHO/LASCO C2 image of the spectacular June 7, 2011 coronal mass ejection (CME). This image was taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) C2 coronograph which images the corona from about 1.5 to 6 solar radii. Credit: NASA/SOHO › Link to related news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110607-sohoC2.html
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A "sun grazing" comet as caught by Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) C2 camera as it dived toward the sun on July 5 and July 6. SOHO is the overwhelming leader in spotting sungrazers, with over 2000 spotted to date, aided by the fact that the sun's bright light is itself blocked out by the coronograph. The SOHO LASCO C2 camera images the inner solar corona up to 8.4 million kilometers (5.25 million miles) away from the Sun....
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/comet-streaks-sun.html
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Artist's rendition of one of the two identical Voyager Spacecraft in space. Credit: NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_voyager.html
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This model is an indication of the complexity of the ionosphere-thermosphere-mesosphere (ITM) system of planet Earth and the range of physical processes operating. Credit: NASA/J. Grobowsky
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/itm-processes.html
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Graphic of proposed IRIS spacecraft. The IRIS instrument is a multi-channel imaging spectrograph with a 20 cm UV telescope. IRIS will obtain spectra along a slit (1/3 arcsec wide), and slit-jaw images. Credit: NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_iris.html
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A solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun's surface. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. A prominence forms over timescales of about a day, and stable prominences may persist in the corona for several months, looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space. Scientists are still researching how...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/solar-prominence.html
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A sunspot prediction for solar cycle 24. Planning for satellite orbits and space missions often require knowledge of solar activity levels years in advance. Current prediction for the next sunspot cycle maximum gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 58 in July of 2013. As of March 2011, we are over two years into Cycle 24. The predicted size would make this the smallest sunspot cycle in nearly 200 years. Credit: NASA/MSFC/Hathaway
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/sunspot-prediction-cycle24.html
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Technological infrastructure affected by space weather events include satellites, aircraft, and power grids. A web of inter-dependencies makes the modern economy especially sensitive to solar storms. This is why advancing the understanding of the causes of space weather and improving its forecasting are critical goals. Credit: NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/Tech-affects.html
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Eleven years in the life of the Sun, spanning most of solar cycle 23, as it progressed from solar minimum to maximum conditions and back to minimum (upper right) again, seen as a collage of ten full-disk images of the lower corona. Of note is the prevalence of activity and the relatively few years when our Sun might be described as “quiet.” Credit: NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/solarcycle23.html
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This cutaway model shows a red “shelf” layer of a Kuiper Belt object peeking through the thin, darkened crust above so that the object appears red in telescopes. Credit: NASA/Conceptual Image Lab/Tyler Chase › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/102710kuiper-labeled.html
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An artist's rendition of the five THEMIS space spacecrafts traveling through the magnetic field lines around Earth. Credit: NASA › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/013111speedy.html
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SOHO's 2000th comet, spotted by a Polish amateur astronomer on December 26, 2010. Credit: SOHO/Karl Battams › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/122810comet.html
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A very long solar filament that had been snaking around the Sun erupted Dec. 6, 2010 with a flourish. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) caught the action in dramatic detail in extreme ultraviolet light of Helium. It had been almost a million km long ((about half a solar radius) and a prominent feature on the Sun visible over two weeks ago before it rotated out of view. Filaments are elongated clouds of cooler gases suspended above the Sun by magnetic forces. They are rather unstable and...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/120610filament.html
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On January 4, the Hinode satellite captured these breathtaking images of an annular solar eclipse. An annular eclipse occurs when the moon, slightly more distant from Earth than on average, moves directly between Earth and the sun, thus appearing slightly smaller to observers' eyes; the effect is a bright ring, or annulus of sunlight, around the silhouette of the moon. Hinode, a Japanese mission in partnership with NASA, NAOJ, STFC, ESA, and NSC, currently in Earth orbit, is studying the Sun to...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/010611hinode.html
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NASA's STEREO spacecraft watched as an eruptive prominence rose up and arched out in a horseshoe shape far above the Sun's surface (Aug. 25, 2010). The image shows the action in an extreme UV wavelength as an eruptive prominence churns, then rises up, arches out, and finally breaks apart and dissipates above the solar surface. Prominences are clouds of relatively cool gases suspended in the Sun's hot corona by magnetic fields that sometimes break loose to create these dramatic eruptions. This...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/082710prominence.html
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This Solar Dynamics Observatory image of the Sun taken on January 10 in extreme ultraviolet light captures a dark coronal hole just about at sun center. Coronal holes are areas of the Sun's surface that are the source of open magnetic field lines that head way out into space. They are also the source regions of the fast solar wind, which is characterized by a relatively steady speed of approximately 800 km/s (about 1.8 million mph). As the sun continues to rotate, the high speed solar wind...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/011111holes.html
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This aurora over Valkeakoski, Finland on September 15, 2000 resulted from the September 12 coronal mass ejection featured in the video above. Credit: Tom Eklund › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/111810explosions.html
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SDO catches the action when the sun sends out a double shot. Credit: NASA/SDO › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/012811double.html
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The still image of the large X2 flare seen by Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in extreme ultraviolet light on February 15, 2011, enlarged and superimposed on an image of SOHO's C2 coronagraph for the same period. › Link to associated news item
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/20110214-xflare.html
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Artist rendition of MMS spacecraft.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_mms.html
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Artist rendition of RBSP spacecraft.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_rbsp.html
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Artist rendition of SPP spacecraft.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_spp.html
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Artist rendition of IBEX spacecraft.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_ibex.html
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Artist rendition of STEREO spacecraft.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_stereo.html
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Artist rendition of SDO spacecraft.
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_sdo.html
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An artist's concept of the ARTEMIS spacecraft in orbit around the Moon. Credit: NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_artemis.html
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Artist rendition of FASTSat spacecraft
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/mission_fastsat.html
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A magnetosphere is that area of space, around a planet, that is controlled by the planet's magnetic field. The shape of the Earth's magnetosphere is the direct result of being blasted by solar wind. The solar wind compresses its sunward side to a distance of only 6 to 10 times the radius of the Earth. A supersonic shock wave is created sunward of Earth called the Bow Shock. Most of the solar wind particles are heated and slowed at the bow shock and detour around the Earth in the Magnetosheath....
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/magnetosphere2.html
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Artist concept of the Sun's Layers. Credit: NASA
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/Sunlayers-unlabeled.html
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Diagram of the layers within Earth's atmosphere. Troposphere The troposphere starts at the Earth's surface and extends 8 to 14.5 kilometers high (5 to 9 miles). This part of the atmosphere is the most dense. Almost all weather is in this region. Stratosphere The stratosphere starts just above the troposphere and extends to 50 kilometers (31 miles) high. The ozone layer, which absorbs and scatters the solar ultraviolet radiation, is in this layer. Mesosphere The mesosphere starts just above the...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/atmosphere-layers2.html
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The sun and its atmosphere consist of several zones or layers. From the inside out, the solar interior consists of the core, the radiative zone, and the convection zone. The solar atmosphere is made up of the photosphere, the chromosphere, a transition region, and the corona. Beyond the corona is the solar wind, which is actually an outward flow of coronal gas. The sun's magnetic fields rise through the convection zone and erupt through the photosphere into the chromosphere and corona. The...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/Sunlayers.html
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This is an artist's concept of our Heliosphere as it travels through our galaxy with the major features labeled. Termination Shock: Blowing outward billions of kilometers from the Sun is the solar wind, a thin stream of electrically charged gas. This wind travels at an average speed ranging from 300 to 700 kilometers per second (700,000 - 1,500,000 miles per hour) until it reaches the termination shock. At this point, the speed of the solar wind drops abruptly as it begins to feel the effects...
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/multimedia/Heliosphere.html
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The crew of STS-85 used a 35mm camera with a time exposure to record this image of the southern lights or Aurora Australis. The vertical stabilizer of the Space Shuttle Discovery appears in the foreground. Image credit: NASA
Topics: What -- STS-85, What -- Space Shuttle Orbiter
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/171269main_image_feature_776_ys_full.jpg
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Where do meteor showers originate? To help answer this question, astronomers studied his past weekend's Quadrantid meteor shower. In particular, astronomers with specialized cameras flew as part of the Quadrantid's Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (MAC) aboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft above northern Canada and studied the meteor shower in unprecedented detail. Pictured above is a composite image combining many short exposures. Visible in the image are the tail of the airplane reflecting a red...
Topics: What -- Beacon, Where -- Canada
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/207651main_quadrantids_vaubaillon_big_full.jpg
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The 2010 Perseid meteor shower is fully underway! This composite image shows the same Perseid meteor streaking over Lake Erie, seen from six different observing stations. The University of Western Ontario operates a network of eight all-sky cameras, and on the evening of Aug. 8, 2010, six of the stations recorded separate views of the same Perseid meteor. At approximately 9:59 p.m. EDT, this confirmed Perseid meteor was first detected at an altitude of 75 miles over Lake Erie, near the city of...
Topic: Where -- Ohio
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/474118main_composite_colorized_full.jpg
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The 2010 Perseid meteor shower is lighting up the August skies. This image shows two composite views taken on the night of Aug. 11, 2010. The image on the left shows a collection of observations taken from 42 single station events over Huntsville, Ala. The image on the right shows a composite view from 39 single station events over Chickamauga, Ga. Image credit: NASA/MSFC/D. Moser, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/475179main_composite_perseids_full.jpg
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A pale green interloper among the stars of Cassiopeia, Comet Hartley 2 shines in this four-minute exposure taken on the night of Sept. 28, 2010, by NASA astronomer Bill Cooke. Still too faint to be seen with the unaided eye, the comet was 18 million miles away from Earth at the time. Cooke took this image using a telescope located near Mayhill, N.M., which he controlled via the Internet from his home computer in Huntsville, Ala. Comet-watching from the comfort of your living room? Modern...
Topics: What -- Cassiopeia, What -- Earth, What -- Sun, What -- Dawn
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/484976main_hartley2_sept2010_full.jpg
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Dec 28, 2010
12/10
Dec 28, 2010
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NASA
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Over 100 meteors are recorded in this composite image taken during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, Dec 13 -14, using an all-sky camera operated by the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. A fish-eye view of the surrounding nighttime landscape at the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory can also be seen. Credit: NASA/MSFC/Danielle Moser, NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office
Topic: Where -- Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Source: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/506311main_20101214_MAXstack_03_full.jpg
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This illustration shows the approximate sizes of the planets relative to each other. Outward from the Sun, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Jupiter's diameter is about 11 times that of the Earth's and the Sun's diameter is about 10 times Jupiter's. Pluto's diameter is slightly less than one-fifth of Earth's. The planets are not shown at the appropriate distance from the Sun. *Image Credit*: Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Sun, What -- Mercury, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=178
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This is an artist's concept of a comet dust trail and dust tail. The trail can only be seen in the light of radiated heat. The dust trail is made of particles that are the size of sand grains and pebbles. They are large enough that they are not affected much by the Sun's light and solar wind. The dust tail, on the other hand, is made of grains the size of cigarette-smoke particles. These grains are blown out of the dust coma near the comet nucleus by the Sun's light. *Image Credit*: K. Jobse,...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, Where -- Ames Research Center (ARC)
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=903
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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2nd Grade
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=92
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This montage shows asteroid 951 Gaspra (top) compared with Deimos (lower left) and Phobos (lower right), the moons of Mars. The three bodies are shown at the same scale and nearly the same lighting conditions. Gaspra is about 17 kilometers (10 miles) long. All three bodies have irregular shapes due to past catastrophic conditions. However, their surfaces appear remarkably different, possibly because of differences in composition but most likely because of very different impact histories. The...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Mars, What -- Viking, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=890
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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The idea that rocks could fall from the sky was generally accepted by the early nineteenth century. At first, people thought these rocks formed in the atmosphere, hence the name meteorites. By the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists were sure that meteorites came from space and fairly sure they came from our solar system. Evidence mounted that meteorites came from the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter), and until the early 1980s most scientists thought that all meteorites came...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Mars, What -- Jupiter, What...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=846
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This picture is of the Alpha-Monocerotid meteor outburst in 1995. The Perseid meteor shower, usually the best meteor shower of the year, peaks in August. Over the course of an hour, a person watching a clear sky from a dark location might see as many as 100 meteors. Meteors are actually pieces of rock that have broken off a comet and continue to orbit the Sun. The Earth travels through the comet debris in its orbit. As the small pieces enter the Earth's atmosphere, friction causes them to burn...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Sun, What -- Earth, Where --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=843
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Sep 17, 2009
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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Dr. Wernher von Braun explains the Saturn Launch System to President John F. Kennedy. NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans is to the left of von Braun. The powerful Saturn V booster launched American astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s. *Image Credit*: NASA
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Saturn, What -- Moon
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1771
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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Asteroids are material left over from the formation of the solar system. One theory suggests that they are the remains of a planet that was destroyed in a massive collision long ago. More likely, asteroids are material that never coalesced into a planet. In fact, if the estimated total mass of all asteroids was gathered into a single object, the object would be less than 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) across, less than half the diameter of our Moon. The asteroid belt lies in the region between...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Moon, What -- Mars, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=850
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Sep 17, 2009
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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Crew members of mission STS-51L stand in the White Room at Pad 39B following the end of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT). From left to right they are: Teacher in Space Participant, Sharon "Christa" McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, Gregory Jarvis, Mission Specialist, Judy Resnik, Commander Dick Scobee Mission Specialist, Ronald McNair, Pilot, Michael Smith and Mission Specialist, Ellison Onizuka. *Image Credit*: NAS
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, Who -- Dick Scobee, Who -- Ronald...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1773
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
by
NASA
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The ejecta deposits around Mars' impact crater Yuty (18 kilometers in diameter) consist of many overlapping lobes. Craters with this type of ejecta deposit are known as rampart craters. This type of ejecta morphology is characteristic of many craters at equatorial and midlatitudes on Mars, but is unlike that seen around small craters on the Moon. This style of ejecta deposit is believed to form when an impacting object rapidly melts ice in the subsurface. The presence of liquid water in the...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Mars, What -- Crater, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=824
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Sep 17, 2009
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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Space Shuttle Columbia liftoff from Complex 39A during the first launch of the space shuttle. *Image Credit*: NASA
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Space Shuttle Orbiter, What...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1772
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Sep 17, 2009
09/09
Sep 17, 2009
by
NASA
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Although Valles Marineris originated as a tectonic structure, it has been modified by other processes. This image shows a close-up view of a landslide on the south wall of Valles Marineris. This landslide partially removed the rim of the crater that is on the plateau adjacent to Valles Marineris. Note the texture of the landslide deposit where it flowed across the floor of Valles Marineris. Several distinct layers can be seen in the walls of the trough. These layers may be regions of distinct...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Crater, What -- Viking 1...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=828
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09/09
Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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The Atmospheric Entry Simulator at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. Visible in the foreground is a large tank containing air under high pressure. In the middle ground directly behind it is a special trumpet-shaped nozzle, contured so that air flowing through it gradually changes in density in the same way that the Earth's atmosphere changes in density with altitude. Not visible in this photograph is a high speed gun used to launch a test model at earth re-entry speed...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Earth, Where -- Ames Research...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=1763
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This feature is an example of a class of volcanos that are considerably smaller than either the broad shield volcanos or Alba Patera. The summit consists of a single, very circular caldera with a smooth floor that predates the ejecta from two large impact craters. The lower flanks of the volcano, including portions of the impact craters, have been buried by the material that makes up the surrounding plains. This superpositional relationship indicates that the plains were emplaced subsequent to...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Viking 2 Orbiter, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=830
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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A diagram of the Mariner series of spacecraft and launch vehicle. Mariner spacecraft explored Mercury, Venus and Mars. *Image Credit*: NASA
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Mariner, What -- Mercury,...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=963
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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The meteorite ALH 84001, where possible traces of martian life have been found, is one of the oldest rocks ever studied The meteorite probably came from one of the oldest regions on Mars. These ancient parts of Mars, most of its southern hemisphere, are covered with asteroid impact craters, like this area in the bright region of Noachis. This part of Mars is as cratered as the Moon's highlands and is about the same age, more than 4 billion years old. The biggest crater here is Proctor, named...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Mars, What -- Crater, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=829
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's rear hazard identification camera shows the rover's hind view of the lander platform, its nest for the past 12 sols, or martian days. The rover is approximately 1 meter (3 feet) in front of the airbag-cushioned lander, facing northwest. Note the tracks left in the martian soil by the rovers' wheels, all six of which have rolled off the lander. This is the first time the rover has touched martian soil. *Image Credit*: NASA, Jet Propulsion...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Mars Exploration Rover (MER),...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=943
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Sep 17, 2009
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NASA
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This Viking orbiter image shows Uranius Tholus, one of the smaller volcanos in the Tharsis region of Mars. It is only 60 kilometers across and 3 kilometers higher than the surrounding plains. In comparison with Olympus Mons, the greater number of impact craters near Uranius Tholus implies that it is substantially older than Olympus Mons. One such crater in the top center of the image has been flooded by lava from the surrounding plains. Because this crater must have formed after the volcano but...
Topics: Solar System Exploration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Planets, What -- Viking 1 Orbiter, What --...
Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=831
